Welcome to installment 4 of KetoKorner at our new home - I am so excited to announce that Wednesdays are our new day and we have our very own dedicated newsletter!

Remember that you do not need to be on a strict Ketogenic Diet to follow this newsletter - anyone on a low carbohydrate or even considering just reducing their carbohydrate consumption will benefit from the content we will be covering.

And now, for this week’s content:

The Benefits of Coconut Oil

It seems that every time you open your email these days there’s another post from someone touting coconut oil as the newest and best superfood - is it really worth all the hype?

In my opinion absolutely YES. Although coconut oil is 90% saturated fat we now know that all saturated fats are not equal (as in some are better than others) and they are nowhere near the health demon that they have been made out to be. On top of that coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids (MCT’s) which behave very differently than any other fat.

Here are 7 reasons why:

Great for ENERGY. The MCT’s in coconut oil get processed in your liver where they get converted to Ketones (remember last week’s post?) which your body (and your brain) uses for energy and loves for a multitude of other reasons.

Helps you to burn fat for fuel. MCT’s cannot be stored as fat! As a matter of fact they help your body burn fat (there are those ketones again :-) so can be very helpful if you need to lose excess weight.

Brain Fuel. Coconut oil is also spectacular for your brain - seeing as it gets converted to ketones and your brain loves ketones….

Kill pathogens. Another one of the fats in coconut oil (C12) also has antiviral, anti fungal and antibacterial properties - so it can help fight off pathogens or even in the fight against Candida overgrowth.

Helps you to feel fuller longer. Coconut oil (due to the ketones it gets converted to) actually helps to suppress appetite and so will help you to eat less and lose weight over time! I have clients who will actually consume a few tablespoons a day - just be careful you don’t go too far overboard without also reducing your carb consumption!

Good for cholesterol. Coconut oil has been shown to be great for cholesterol management - increasing HDL (the good cholesterol) and improving the quality of the LDL your body makes. We also know that oxidized LDL particles seem to be the most harmful to our health and studies have shown that Virgin Coconut Oil helps the LDL to resist oxidation.

Great for Hair and Skin. If you and your jar of coconut oil get stranded on a desert island not only can you eat it but you can also use it as a skin moisturizer, a hair moisturizer PLUS to keep your gums healthy (by oil pulling aka use it as mouthwash and spit it out)….if that’s not enough, your coconut oil is also a mild sunscreen!! But you’ll probably just want to eat it.

Ways to use it - add your coconut oil to smoothies, use it to cook veggies, bake with it, make curries, even blend it into your coffee or tea.

So, in closing, coconut oil is a great ingredient to use for anyone whether you are following a low carbohydrate, Ketogenic style diet, or even a regular diet. Low Carb Canada carries a number of great Extra Virgin Coconut Oil brands for you to choose from.

If you want to go a step further you can also use MCT oil (like the Brain Octane oil available on the Low Carb Canada website) which is 16x more potent than coconut oil, is completely flavourless and gets fully converted to MCT’s. Just start slow as too much too soon can cause “disaster pants” which is exactly what it sounds like - so start with a teaspoon and build up gradually over a few days or a week as your body tolerance improves.

And finally - if you just want to cut out the middleman you can also add exogenous ketones to your daily regimen by drinking a Keto O/S shake every day. You can still use coconut oil and MCT but this will give you even faster results as the work is already done for you. For more info and to order just go to canfuel.pruvitnow.com/ca

You are invited to send in your comments and questions which I will be more than happy to respond to and answer. Just email me (Nathalie) at: canfuel@lowcarbcanada.ca And for recipes, articles and meal ideas like my Facebook page: KetoNat